System and method for distributing media assets to user devices and managing user rights of the media assets

ABSTRACT

A system and method for distributing digital media assets to a plurality of users. A portal is provided comprising at least one server computer. The portal executes a media library database server application that manages access a master library of media 5 assets that can be accessed by users via one or more communication networks. A plurality of media player devices communicate with the portal to access media assets for use. Each media player device may comprise a processor that executes a database client application that manages media assets licensed for use by a user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/679,688 issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,020,704 on Mar. 28, 2006, whichclaims the benefit of the priority of US. Provisional Patent ApplicationNos. 60/157,736 filed Oct. 5, 1999; 60/176,833 filed Jan. 19, 2000;60/177,063 filed Jan. 19, 2000; 60177,783 filed Jan. 24, 2000;60/177,884 filed Jan. 24, 2000; 60/176,830 filed Jan. 19, 2000;60/176,829 filed Jan. 19, 2000; and 60/177,867 filed Jan. 24, 2000. Theentirety of each of these provisional applications is incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The distribution of music, video, software and other media assets hasbeen dramatically transformed by the digital age and the Internet. Forexample, distribution of music is evolving from a physical copy sold byretail stores, catalog companies or on-line vendors, to digital copiestransmitted over the Internet. In this connected and digital world, asystem and method are needed whereby users can use media assets frommultiple devices without the need to carry the asset on a memory device.It is desirable to provide a system and method that allows for theportability of media assets across different devices that are capable ofconnecting to a source of the media assets directly or indirectly overone or more communications networks.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, the present invention is directed to a system and method fordistributing digital media assets to a plurality of users. A portal isprovided comprising at least one server computer. The portal executes amedia library database server application that manages access to amaster library of media assets that can be accessed by users via one ormore communication networks. Each of a plurality of media player devicescommunicates with the portal to access media assets for use. Each mediaplayer device assists in managing media assets licensed for use by auser. The present invention is more fully described in the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of the system according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram depicting the flow of media asset dataaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting the interaction of various softwarecomponents in the system.

FIG. 4 is an example of a main screen or home page for the portal.

FIG. 5 is a view of a front panel of a media player device.

FIG. 6 is a view of a back panel of a media player device.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a media player device.

FIG. 8 is an example of a user interface screen for the media playersoftware application.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart that illustrates a synchronization process ofmedia assets between a media player device and the portal.

FIG. 10 is an example of a world wide web page showing how rights to amedia asset may be purchased over the Internet according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating a security lock-out feature of amedia player according to an aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the present invention is directed to asystem 10 for distributing digital media assets from a variety of mediasources 100 to a variety of media player devices 200 through a portal300. Examples of media sources 100 are a webretailer 105, a music orvideo production or distribution studio 110, a video server 115containing a library of video assets such as movies and other videoproductions from one or more production companies, an audio server 120containing a library of audio assets such as music and other audioproductions from one or more record companies and a web site 125 for anonline and/or brick&mortar media asset company. In addition, artists notaffiliated with a mainstream production company may make their videoand/or audio assets available from a host server or their own servers.The portal 300 connects to the media asset sources 100 by any suitablemeans, such as the Internet, dedicated telecommunication lines, wirelessnetworks, dedicated wide area networks, or any combination thereof. Theterminology “electronically transmitting” a digital media asset is meantto include wired and/or fiber communication, wireless communication, andany long-distance or short range communications (IEEE 802.11, HomeRF,BlueTooth™) or combinations thereof. In addition to downloading orstreaming media assets stored locally to the portal 300, the portal 300connects to media asset sources 100 and downloads and/or streams mediaassets from those sources to media player devices 200.

A media player device 200 is a device that enables a user to play adigital media asset. The media player device 200 may be a home consumerdevice 210 that connects to a television or other monitor 215 as well asa home stereo 217 (amplifier/tuner, etc.) 20 which in turn is connectedto speakers 219, a personal computer (PC) 220 (laptop or desktop), avehicle-based electronic device 225, a portable media player device 230,or a wireless electronic device 235. The media player is also referredto as a client media player insofar as it acts as a client to the portal300 in some circumstances. An example of still another type of mediaplayer is a cable set-top box.

Briefly, a media player device 200 comprises a processor that executes amedia playback software application program (or alternatively hardware)to enable a user to play or use a digital media asset, such as music,video, games, etc. In addition, the media player device 200 may have adisplay (LCD or other type), speakers, microphone, etc. The mediaplayback software application program may be a platform generic softwareprogram that is useful on a diverse variety of media player devices. Themedia player device 200 of the home consumer device 210 variety mayresemble a consumer electronics DVD player, that also connects to theInternet via broadband and/or modem. A broadband connection affords theability of the media player device 200 to download audio and video mediaassets at desirable rates. The user interface with the home consumerdevice 210 is by way of a wired or (infrared or RF) wireless keyboard212 and/or a handheld (infrared or RF) wireless remote 214. The detailsof one example of a media player device 200 are described hereinafter inconjunction with FIGS. 5-7.

A user may have multiple media player devices 200 and therefore desireaccess to media assets that he/she has purchased the rights to, on eachmedia player, if that user has purchased rights of sufficient scope topermit access on multiple media players. Those assets to which a userhas purchased digital access rights on one or more media players arehereinafter referred to as a user's licensed assets. Moreover, multipleusers within a “family” may have different levels of access to certainclasses of media assets on one or more media players 200 in that userfamily. Each user within the user family would have his/her ownidentifier and password. For example, an adult user might have access tocertain “R” rated videos, while a child user might have access to only“G” rated videos. Some media assets may be licensed royalty free to auser such that there is no need to track how a user uses that particularmedia asset. The portal 300 is a computer server or group of serversthat functions to allow for the storage, stream and download of mediaassets to a media player 200. In addition, as described above the portal300 provides connections to other source sites, such as sources ofstreaming Internet radio providers.

The portal 300 allows for synchronization and replication of a user'slicensed assets with each of the user's media player devices 200. Thisfunctionality is hereinafter referred to as the virtual media assetlibrary. The portal 300 also serves as a central repository within whichmedia assets are “tagged” with identity and access privileges of thoseusers (and users within a user family) that have licensed rights in themedia assets. The portal 300 may be accessible directly from a mediaplayer device and through one or more web sites and may provide acustomizable interface or view to each user, if desired. The virtualmedia asset library technology may include rights management,watermarking, encryption and containment functions performed by theportal 300.

The digital media assets distributed by the system 10 may be audio suchas music, video such as movies, television programs or other videoproductions, interactive software games, or any media that is digitizedand suitable for electronic distribution. The digital media asset may beprotected, where applicable or necessary, from piracy by the use ofvarious methods, including digital rights asset management (DRM),encryption and watermarking. The digital media assets may be in anyknown or hereinafter developed formats, such as, for example, MP3, EPAC,WAV, REAL, MPEG, QuickTime and other formats.

The Portal

The portal 300 communicates with media player devices 200 viacommunication network 400 that may consist of the Internet and/or acombination of wireless communication networks, such as cellularnetworks, PCS networks, etc. While a single portal 300 is shown in FIG.1, it should be understood that there may be multiple portals, eachdedicated to serve subsets of media player devices in a distributedfashion so as to minimize load on individual servers.

With reference to FIG. 3, a basic architecture for the portal 300 isdescribed. The components of the portal 300 are a hardware platform 310,such as one or more computer servers, an operating system 320 that isexecuted by the hardware platform 310, a master media library database(server) application 330 and a broadband interface 340. An example of aweb site home page through which a user interacts with the portal 300 isshown in FIG. 4. In this exemplary screen, there are several areas foradvertisements, one or more of which are “hot” and thus provide a linkto an advertiser site. In addition, there are channels on the bottomportion of the screen associated with various media sources.

In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the master media librarydatabase application 330 synchronizes the licensed digital media assetsfor a user with the client database application in each media player ofthe user so that a user can access any licensed media asset from any ofthe user's media players for which that user has licensed rights.Alternatively, for media players that do not have a database clientapplication, the master database application 330 maintains the user'sdatabase of assets “on-line” and a user obtains access to it byconnecting to the portal 300. This process is explained furtherhereinafter.

There are numerous other functions performed by the portal 300 and theseare described below.

Update User and Billing Information

To begin with, the portal manages user information, such as name,address and phone information, billing and price plans and billing viewsdesired by a user. There may be a monthly subscription charge andadditional charges for the media assets a user desires to use.

Subscription Management Preferences

This portal allows the user to create their own custom portal view whichpreviews and presents content that might fit the user's infotainmentprofile. Examples of these preferences are types of movies, producer,director, cinemaphotographer, choreographer, actor/actress, music type,musician or artist, etc.

Content Management

Some or all of the user's licensed assets are catalogued and stored bythe master media library database in the portal 300. (It should beunderstood that the media player device itself has storage capability tolocally store assets.) There are numerous features associated with thisaspect of the system. The portal 300 may be used to add, edit, or deletea user in an account. It may be used to create, edit, or delete aplaylist of assets, as well as add or delete particular audio or videoassets.

The portal may be used to edit the metadata associated with an asset(e.g., edit the title, artist genre classification of a song or thetitle, actor's name or director of a movie).

Asset Acquisition

There are a variety of functions and capabilities provided by the systemassociated with the process of acquiring assets, such as those listedbelow.

-   -   Stream Asset    -   Download Asset    -   Find/Search Master Database    -   Get Usage History    -   Set Access Privileges—time, date, type, rating, number, etc.    -   Check account status—active, limited, etc.    -   Log activity—detailed request database    -   Log Errors per user    -   Log Errors per title

Royalty Management

Artists and media asset sources/distributors can interface to the portalto review usage activity of their respective media assets, includinginformation such as, total downloads, downloads by type, downloads byregion, and downloads by country. Royalties are calculated automaticallyand the billing system is queued for automatic payment, with specificapproval being an option.

-   -   Interactive Services    -   Email:        -   Send & Receive Email        -   Third-Party hosting        -   Standard POP3 Compliant    -   Chat        -   Provide Chat rooms for various topic discussions        -   Provide Chat Café with background music        -   Allow for password protection    -   Web Browsing        -   Hot-link to other sites from portal        -   Track URL paths for insertion into database—(i.e.—link a            song)        -   Browser may be tailored for TV and control by wireless            keyboard and/or mouse    -   News Groups    -   Allow for the creation of vertical news groups    -   Allow for interactive input    -   Games    -   Provide for on-line gaming    -   Third-party pass-through    -   Data Warehouse Interface/Reporting

The portal may interface to third party databases for access to mediaassets. In this case, the portal replicates aspects of the remotedatabases. These media assets are locally cached by the portal for mostcommonly requested assets. In addition, the portal generates essentialusage reports.

Advertisement Server

The portal includes advertisement server software functionality to allowfor third-party advertisement submission, deletion and maintenance. Theportal automatically inserts an ad into download stream, and selects anadvertisement based on user profile information when allowable.Advertisement usage and user profile information is continuouslytracked. The portal generates detailed usage reports for the operator ofthe system as well as for the advertiser. The advertisements may includeURL “hotlinks” within an advertisement window, as is well known in theart. In addition, the portal allows for personalized/customizedadvertisement generation.

Personalization Engine

The portal further includes personalization software that providespersonalized views for users. This further allows for insertion oftargeted advertising based on profiles. An example of a type of profilethat is created and tracked is a user's “psychographic” profile.Suggestions are generated for users based on viewing and listeningprofile information.

Activity Analysis

The portal monitors activity and usage of the system to suggest patternsfor load management.

The Media Player Device

Referring again to FIG. 3, one form of the media player device 200comprises a hardware platform 250, an operating system 260, a databaseclient application 270 and a media player engine software application280. The media player engine 280 is, for example, based on a softwareplatform that is useful across multiple and diverse types of hardwareplatforms of media player device, such as Java, or is written as aplatform specific application. The media player engine 280 may includeinterfaces to third party software for certain functions and features.The media library database server application 330 and the databaseclient application 270 are, for example, database software productslicensed by Oracle Corp. Briefly, the media player engine 280 comprisessoftware, such as Java and C++ code for playing back audio and videoassets on an operating system platform 260. The operating system 260 maybe Windows, Macintosh, Linux or other operating platforms, which mayinclude Internet browser capability or interfaces to a resident Internetbrowser application. Some or all of the media player engine 280 may bebased on a platform portability software, such as Java.

Another form of a media player device is also shown in FIG. 3, whereinthe media player device does not include a client database application270. Instead, the master media library database 330 of the portalmaintains an “on-line” database of assets to which the user of thatmedia player device is entitled to use. The user is informed of thoseassets in this on-line database when the media player device connects tothe portal. The functionality of the media player device without theclient database application 270 is otherwise similar to a device withit, except that the device without it must connect to the portal toinform the user of his/her database contents. The media player device ofthis type may have some local memory in which a playlist of media assetscan be stored. The locally stored playlist would contain a subset of theuser's complete on-line database.

Referring now to FIGS. 5-7, an example of a hardware platform 250 for amedia player device 200 of the home consumer variety 210 will bedescribed in further detail. Many of the hardware components shown inFIGS. 5-7 would also be present in other types of media player devices(such as those shown in FIG. 1) depending on cost and featurerequirements. In some cases, additional components such as an amplifier,speaker and display would be included as part of the media playerhardware platform Generally, the media player device 210 is astand-alone multimedia server. It is intended to be roughly the size ofa CD/DVD Player and provide for both audio and video output, though itssize may vary with specific applications. The audio output may requirean amplifier to drive speakers, or an amplifier may be included withinthe device. Video is directed to a television or monitor. The mediaplayer device receives its media assets via broadband demand download orstream, traditional phone line download or stream from the portal and/orother media partners. The media player device is also able to downloadcontent and information from other Internet web sites through itsembedded browser interface. Moreover, the media player device canplayback locally stored media assets such as CDs, DVDs, or otherphysical media as well as media assets stored on a local hard drivestorage device. The particular hardware platform 250 for a media playerdevice 200 shown in FIGS. 5-7 is intended to complement the existingstereo and audio-visual components within the home environment. Thevideo interface of the media player device may support NTSC and PALanalog video signal standards, as well as HDTV or other digital TVstandards. In addition, the media player device can support variousaudio signal formats, such as Dolby and DTS theater sound formats.

The hardware platform 250 comprises several major components andassemblies.

A Front Panel Assembly 2210 comprises a display circuit assembly 2260that drives a display 2262 and generates control signals from user inputbuttons 2264 and from an infrared receiver 2264; a front I/O circuitassembly 2220 and a power switch circuit assembly 2230. The display is,for example, a vacuum fluorescent display.

A Power Supply Assembly 2300 connects to a standard household poweroutlet and generates all of the necessary voltages and grounds for thecomponents of the media player device.

A removable memory media drive device, such as DVD-ROM drive assembly2400, or other suitable removable memory media drive device heretoforeknown or hereinafter developed is provided. The “DVD format is anexample of a suitable drive assembly. Others removable memory mediadrive devices are CD-read, CD-read/write, DVD audio, DVD read/write,etc.

In addition, a hard disk drive 2500 is provided for storing mediacontent and other information.

As shown in FIG. 5, the front panel comprises the display 2262, userinterface buttons 2264, a power on/off switch 2268, and the tray or slotfor the removable memory media drive 2400. In addition, a swing-opendoor reveals (not shown) USB type ‘A’ stacked ports, IEEE-1394 port,PC-Card ports, Smart Card port, and ¼″ headphone audio jack withheadphone volume adjustment knob.

The rear panel is show in FIG. 6. The rear panel exposes the I/Oconnections 2110, including, USB, LAN, PHONE LINE IN, SERIAL, VGA OUT,Composite Video IN, S-Video IN, Audio OUT Left, Audio OUT Right,Composite Video OUT, S-Video OUT, Digital Audio, AC ˜120V.

As shown in FIG. 7, a motherboard assembly 2100 comprises the CPU 2120,memory 2130, special purpose chip sets 2140, and I/O connectors 2110.All processing excluding a processor on the display circuit assembly2260 is controlled by the motherboard. Examples of the special purposechip sets 2140 are Integrated Video Chipset with NTSC/PAL, S-Video, andSVGA out, Macrovision CSS for NTSC/PAL and S-Video Out, IntegratedStereo Audio Chipset with Stereo Line out, Integrated DVD/MPEG Videodecoder hardware, Integrated DVD/MPEG Audio decoder hardware, 10Base-TEthernet, 56 Kb V.90 modem, USB hardware to support 2 Type ‘A’ ports onrear, USB hardware to support 2 Type ‘A’ ports on front, IEEE-1394hardware to support one front port, hardware to support 1 internalserial port (header), hardware to support 2 IDE drive ports (2 headers,4 devices total).

The display circuit assembly 2260 includes firmware to perform functionssuch as, de-bouncing momentary switches, reporting user-input switchcontact and release to motherboard via COM port, reporting removablememory media device ‘EJECT’ switch signal to motherboard via COM port,routing remote control and/or wireless keyboard commands to themotherboard, and managing the display.

The front panel circuit assembly 2220 manages interactions with theheadphone jack, headphone volume attenuator control, dual type ‘A’ USBports, and an IEEE-1394 connector. The remote control 214 (FIG. 1) hasseveral buttons and examples of 20 some of their associated functionsare listed in the table provide in the parent application which isincorporated herein by reference.

The media player software engine provides the media playbackfunctionality for the media player device. An example of the userinterface provided by the media player software engine is shown in FIG.8. There are icons associated with audio, video and web resources aswell as one or more areas dedicated to advertisements and links. Inaddition, at the bottom of FIG. 8 are shown icons associated with thebasic playback functions of a media asset, such as audio or video. Thereare several modes of operation that are controlled by the media playersoftware engine described below. It should be understood that the mediaplayer software engine allows multiple modes to be performed at the sametime. For example, a user, while using a media asset, may perform otherfunctions such as web browsing or organizing a media asset library, etc.

Local Playback Mode

In this mode, the media player engine lays assets that reside on locallyinternal hard drives, CD, DVD, floppy or other removable media. Music isplayed back in this configuration as a background task. Otherapplications can function in the foreground.

Network Playback Mode

In this mode, the media player device is connected to a networked serveror a mounted hard drive on a computer, which is on its local network. Amedia player device is capable of playing media assets in this mode fromany connected server. Other media player devices can access server data.Server data is only “referenced” by the media player software engine andnot “managed,” i.e., data can be removed by any network member withappropriate privileges.

Internet Streaming Mode

In this mode, the media player device interacts with an Internet-basedsource for music or video, such as the portal or other sites capable ofstreaming audio or video data.

The media player device is capable of adding URL reference to itsplaylist. Streaming data formats include MP3, EPAC, Windows Media Audioand Video, Flash, QuickTime and REAL audio and REAL video.

Streaming Channels

The media player presents the user with a mix of preset streamingchannels. The user can edit this list of channels and add or deletefiles to the list. These streaming channels can be either digital radiochannels or streaming video channels.

Navigate Streams

This feature provides the ability to rewind and restart streaming media.The media player provides the functionality by caching the datastream inmemory or on disk for later playback.

Audio Playback

This feature provides core functionality to the media player. Severalformats are supported along with the standard VCR type of controls.

Typical formats are:

-   -   MP3 Audio—Various bit rates    -   LUCENT EPAC—Various bit rates    -   WAV    -   Macintosh Audio Format    -   REAL    -   Windows Media Player

Video Playback

Digital video can be played back in a small window or full screen. Theplayback window is resizable for user preference. Examples of digitalvideo formats are, MPEG 1,2 & 4, and QuickTime formats on Windows andMacintosh.

Integrated Internet Browser

From within the media player a user can access various Internet sitesand download music and video assets. Alternately, a user can accesssecure items from the 25 portal that integrate into the user's virtualmedia asset library.

CD Playback and Record

Standard CDs can be played and recorded on the media player device.

Features include:

-   -   Listen while record.    -   Security restrictions for upload to portal.    -   Record to MP3 or other proprietary or non-proprietary format.    -   CD's title is automatically identified from an identification        database that is either local to the portal or is remotely        accessed by the portal via the Internet.    -   Maintain local CD recognition database of personal CD names,        titles, tracks and other information.    -   Lyrics can be automatically added as MetaData from various        servers (local or remote) that provide lyric information.    -   Store CD information in local database.    -   Maintain CD library catalog in database.    -   PEG, BMP & PICT album covers can be associated.    -   Full CD control functionality.

Similar functions can be provided for DVD and Video CD playback.

CD Recognition

This feature involves automatically accessing a local table or anInternet service that associates title and track information to CDs. Themedia player device automatically identifies a disc in the device. CDinformation is incorporated into client database in media player deviceand displayed during playback of the media asset.

MetaData Database

Any music or video file in the media player can have an extensivedatabase of MetaData referenced to it. This data can be referenced inmany views and may include images, lyrics, notes, rights restrictions,and URLs. All data is searchable and reportable and is incorporated intoclient database of media player device.

Playback Construction

A user may create a playlist manually from a master database or generateplaylists randomly based on database searches. Advanced hierarchicalviews provided for extreme flexibility.

Features include:

-   -   View as text list, small icon or large icon views.    -   Drag & drop building.    -   Compute total playing time for making CDs timed list for events.    -   Loop playlist.    -   Play with scan mode to listen to “x” seconds of a song or video.

Data is incorporated into client database of media player device.

The Virtual Media Asset Library

The client database application of the media player can replicate itsdatabase list to the portal for virtual asset sharing. The clientdatabase application is, for example, 8iLite Oracle or SQL databasesoftware. The client database application allows the media player userto access files stored at the portal in his/her virtual media assetlibrary. Additionally, merchants can elect to sell digital media assetalong with the sale of, for example, a hardcopy CD or Video. Thisfeature can provide an additional revenue stream to the record companiesas well as to the CD retailers. The client database in the media playerand the master media library database communicate and interact toprovide automatic replication and synchronization.

The media player device contacts the portal periodically (such as daily,multiple times during the day, etc.) or on demand to synchronize itsdatabase application with that of the portal. A network protocol, suchas for example XML-RPC, is used to synchronize the databases.

More specifically, each account on the portal has one or more mediaplayer devices associated with it, and one or more users associated witha given account.

Users on any media player device may have access to assets on any othermedia player device associated with that account or of unrelated usersso long as licensing rights are tracked and managed. This system ofmutual interdependency is one feature of the virtual media assetlibrary. At the portal, a user's portion of the master media library 5database is referred to as his/her virtual account.

When an asset or its metadata is added, modified or deleted from a mediaplayer device, this change is replicated to the portal in thesynchronization process.

The client media player device initiates synchronization with theportal. With reference to FIG. 9, first in step 3000, the client mediaplayer device initiates synchronization with the portal. Next, in step3010 the portal forwards any asset deletions from the correspondingvirtual account in the master library database to the client mediaplayer device. In step 3020, the client media player device sends anyasset deletions from the local database to the portal. In step 3030, theclient media player device negotiates identifiers for new media assetswith the portal. In step 3040, the client media player device sends allupdates of the local database (additions and changes) to the portal. Instep 3050, the portal sends all updates of the corresponding virtualaccount in the master library database (additions and changes) to theclient media player device.

Operation of the System

An example of how the system operates to distribute digital media assetsfrom a media source 100 to a media player 200 is now described withreference to FIGS. 1-3. Initially, a user becomes a member or subscriberto a portal 300, at which time his or her identity is initialized, andhe/she is issued a user-specific password. Once a membership exists, avirtual private media asset database is created and associated with theuser's login account and password in the portal. The user's virtualmedia asset library represents an intersection of the media assets inthe master media library database 330 and those assets that the user haslicensed rights to. The synchronization process is described above. Themaster media library database 330 need not locally store all of themedia assets; in some cases the master media library database 330 willmaintain a reference to the media asset that is stored by a media source100 and accessed by the portal 300 as needed to satisfy the needs ofusers.

The portal 300 may distribute digital media assets, that is downloadthem in their entirety, to a client media player device for use on thatdevice subject to the licensing rights associated therewith.Alternatively, the portal 300 may stream the digital media assets to aclient media player. A user's rights with respect to the digital mediais either limited term, non-exclusive licensing rights (similar, forexample, to a two-day movie rental in the bricks and mortar world) orindefinite term, non-exclusive licensing rights (similar, for example,to a CD purchase in the bricks and mortar world). The portal applies aseries of rights management rules associated with each user's taggeddigital media assets to limit the user's access to and use to thoseperiods to which the user's licensed rights of those assets applies.Depending upon the specific licensing arrangement between a digitalmedia asset owner and the user, the rights management rules can providefor a limited number of plays or uses of a particular asset, a limitednumber of days during which the asset can be used, or a limited numberof other individuals with which the user may share the asset.

The system according to the present invention permits users to downloadtheir licensed digital media assets to secure client media playerdevices and to use their licensed digital media assets on those devices.As with the physical use of a CD in the bricks and mortar world, a userwill have access to use his or her licensed assets on other infotainmentdevices that he or she owns or uses, provided those other client mediaplayer devices are registered within the portal as being authorized touse the user's licensed assets.

It has been recognized that the media industry has mandated thatdistribution of artists' intellectual property must be protected frompiracy in order for the industry to adopt Internet-based distributionmethods. The system and method of the present invention optionally allowfor security against asset piracy by one or more methods: watermarking,encryption, and object encapsulation. Moreover, as discussed above, thesystem includes rights management information to allow for use based onpre-negotiated rules.

A digital media asset may be encrypted for general protection when theasset is first entered as an object within the main library databaseserver. Upon the request for 5 download (or streaming access) by a user,the asset may be watermarked to coincide with the serial number of theuser's family of client media player devices. Each client media playerdevice that the user owns becomes a licensed playback device for his orher registered multimedia assets if the scope of that license sopermits. For example, if a user owns five client media player devicescapable of running the playback engine, the user will have access tothose assets from one client media player device to another in seamlessfashion. This example illustrates a capability of the system of thepresent invention to move or copy an asset from any home, car, portable,computer, or other computing device. Each client media player device hasa stored protection key that is capable of decrypting and executing theobject that has been downloaded to the player. Each client media playerdevice key is unique, but will have some level of identity with theother client media player devices used by the user's family of devices.From an auditing and security standpoint, each client media playerdevice maintains a log of its playback or use activity for purposes ofreconciliation with the media library database server application. Fromthe point of download of the asset forward, the asset will be associatedwith and licensed to the user's family of client media player devices.Furthermore, with the permission of a digital media asset owner orlicensor, a user may be granted the right to loan or forward his or herlicensed media assets to another person that is not a registered user ofthe system. The forwarded asset is encapsulated in an executable filethat allows for the object's integration into the recipient's mediaplayers, provided the players are compatible with the media playertechnology of the system. If compatibility exists, the recipient willhave the executable rights associated with this object. That is to saythat if the rights of the object include an ability to play the assetonly once, then the asset will play or be used once, and further actionswill be disabled. In the event that compatibility does not exist or therecipient's device does not have a media player, the object will promptfor the optional download of a media player engine software application.In addition, the object will offer the possibility of membership to thesystem to allow for the recipient's use of this asset, as well as therecipient's possible downloading and use of other digital media assets.

If a user has previously purchased a physical media asset, the systemallows for the introduction of that asset ownership into the database ofthe portal, in addition to the normal use of the asset in the mediaplayer device. An asset stored locally on a media player (on hard driveor other memory media such as CD or DVD) can be identified and uploadedto the portal for use on other authorized media player devices of thatuser. For example, a user may “rip” a CD or DVD into digital files thatcan be uploaded to the portal. As another example, the user presentshis/her physical media asset (such as a CD) to a conversion operator(e.g., at a retail music store) who: (1) defaces the user's asset in aminimal fashion (which does not affect is usability) to ensure againstimproper conversion of the asset by another person; and (2)simultaneously registers the asset with the portal. This registrationprocess establishes an ownership reference for the user with the medialibrary database server and adds the converted asset to the user'svirtual media asset library. Once this media asset has been added, theuser or any user within the user's family will have access rights to theasset based on the rights conferred at the time of conversion. Therights associated with each such asset could possibly be different basedon the original content creator's license.

With reference to FIG. 10, according to a further aspect of theinvention, a method or model is provided both to satisfy the musicindustry's piracy concerns and to provide an entirely new revenue sourcefor the industry. This business model (distribution method) allows theconsumer to purchase on-line virtual access rights with respect to eachone of a consumer's purchased physical media assets. That is to say thata consumer who is a user of the system according to the invention can,for an appropriate fee, access each of his or her media assets anytimeand anywhere the consumer has an Internet-enabled client media playerdevice. This method assumes for the music industry, for example, thatconsumers will continue to purchase physical media music assets, butwill have the option of paying an additional licensing fee ($5.57, forexample) for on-line virtual access rights to those music assets. FIG.10 shows an example by which a user, through the portal, orders an audioCD from a media e-retailer, and is given the option to purchase digitalaccess rights from a digital media e-retailer. The additional licensingfee per digital media asset is shared with the portal operator,participating e-retailers, and media asset (music) content owners. Inexchange for the additional licensing fee, a “tag” would be associatedwith those digital media assets on the master media library databaseserver with a notation that a particular user's media player devices areentitled to play or usage rights for those digital media assets.

It is further envisioned that each user may have up to some maximumnumber of eligible client media player devices (e.g., a desktop computerat home, a notebook personal computer at work, a DVD set top box, avehicle-based device, and a handheld portable device), for which userwill pay the system operator a monthly membership fee in order to haveon-line virtual access services during any particular month. Consumerswill find value in the automatic synchronization of the contents oftheir various media players, which allows them to gain access to all oftheir media assets from any player at any time. Finally, users may,subject to a licensing fee, convert their existing libraries of physicalmusic assets (e.g., CDs and cassette tapes) to on-line virtuallyaccessible assets.

Referring to FIG. 11, a security lockout procedure 500 according to theinvention will be described. To protect the usage of a digital mediaasset and a media player device, the security lockout procedure isprovided to lockout unauthorized media player devices. Media playerdevices contact the portal for database synchronization, etc., when theyare powered on, and periodically thereafter. If a media player device isstolen or missing, in step 505, a user contacts the portal(electronically via email, via telephone, etc.) and reports that themedia player device is stolen or missing. In step 510, the portal putsthe user's account on hold and issues the user a confirmation code. Theuser is then instructed to power cycle each of his/her media playerdevices. In step 515, the user's media players contact the portal inattempt to synchronize with the portal. Before synchronizing, in step520, the portal will cause the media player to ask the user for theconfirmation code since the user's account has been put on hold. In step525, the portal determines whether the correct confirmation code hasbeen received from the media player device. If it has, the media playerdevice is enabled for use in step 530. If the correct confirmation codeis not received from a user of a media player device after a certainnumber of attempts, that meha player device is disabled and no longerusable unless completely re-enabled. The above description is intendedby way of example only.

1. A method of managing access to a plurality of media assets comprisingthe steps of: providing a user with a user account; storing referencesto a plurality of media assets which the user has a license to use; andauthorizing over a network a plurality of media player devices with theuser account, wherein the plurality of referenced media assets can beaccessed by any one of the authorized plurality of media player devices.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of media assets maycomprise one or more of video, audio or image formats.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the plurality of media player devices may comprise oneor more of a laptop computer, personal computer, portable media device,mobile communications device, personal digital assistant, cable set topbox, satellite set top box, home audio component or an automobile audiodevice.
 4. A media asset management system comprising: a servercomprising: a user account corresponding to at least one user; a serverdatabase application having at least references to a plurality of mediaassets associated with the user account; and a server applicationaccessible over a network and capable of recognizing a plurality ofmedia player devices as being authorized with the user account; and anapplication residing on at least one of the authorized plurality ofmedia player devices and enabling the at least one authorized mediaplayer device to access one or more of the media assets associated withthe user account.
 5. The media asset management system of claim 4,wherein the server database application only contains a reference to theplurality of media assets which the user has a license to use.
 6. Themedia asset management system of claim 4, wherein the plurality of mediaplayer devices may comprise one or more of a laptop computer, personalcomputer, portable media device, mobile communications device, personaldigital assistant, cable set top box, satellite set top box, home audiocomponent or an automobile audio device.
 7. The media asset managementsystem of claim 4, wherein the application residing on at least one ofthe authorized plurality of media player devices is configured to enableat least one of the plurality of media assets residing on one of themedia player devices to be provided to another of the plurality of mediaplayer devices.
 8. The media asset management system of claim 4, whereinthe number of authorized media player devices are limited to a maximumnumber.
 9. The media asset management system of claim 4, wherein the atleast one user may limit which of the plurality of media assets may beaccessed by the at least one authorized media player device.
 10. Amethod of managing access to a plurality of media assets comprising thesteps of: providing a user with a user account; allowing the user tolicense a plurality of media assets; associating the licensed pluralityof media assets with the user account; authorizing over a network aplurality of media player devices with the user account; providingaccess to at least one of the plurality of licensed media assets by anyone of the plurality of authorized media player devices.
 11. The methodof claim 10, wherein the plurality of media assets may comprise one ormore of video, audio or image formats.
 12. The method of claim 10,wherein the plurality of media player devices may comprise one or moreof a laptop computer, personal computer, portable media device, mobilecommunications device, personal digital assistant, cable set top box,satellite set top box, home audio component or an automobile audiodevice.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the user may limit which ofthe plurality of media assets may be accessed by the authorized mediaplayer devices.
 14. The method of claim 10, wherein the number ofauthorized media player devices are limited to a maximum number.
 15. Themedia asset management system of claim 10, wherein the at least one usermay limit which of the plurality of media assets may be accessed by theat least one authorized media player device.